Aljen tried to recall the events where he was talking to the self-proclaimed God. He decided to call him - Stump G as a mockname to the person responsible for his transfer to the game world. He was infuriated at his own face in the mirror because Hermes Archnemesis was the character he was seeing as his reflection.
“Why him? Why him? There are a lot of goddamn characters in this game but why him? Curse you, Stump G! If I ever see your face, I will smack it into pieces. You hear me? I will smack you!” Suddenly, someone knocked thrice on the door.
“Boss, are you alright?”
“Who might you be ?” he asked in a slightly annoyed tone.
“Oh my, boss. What a surprise, you don’t even recognize my voice? I must have had too much alcohol last night that my voice sounds a bit hoarse. But anyways, greetings, my beloved boss. It is me, Justin. Your personal head butler, at your service.” he replied, bowing his head, speaking with respect as he slightly opened the door half. Only his hair was caught by Hermes' sight.
As for the young boy, he couldn't accept the reality he was facing. But for now, in order to avoid unpleasant circumstances to happen unexpectedly, he must act as the real Don of the game. Although he was in an unbelievably ridiculous setup, he must prioritize his own safety by deceiving the butler. As if he was the real Hermes right now.
“Umm, uh, sorry, Justin. I was just angry about something. Sorry about that,” Hermes explained as he took a sit on the chair next to him.
“Boss, may I come in?” Justin asked.
“Yes, you may. Please proceed.” A young black-haired man entered his room, wearing a black suit and trousers. His hand, covered by white gloves, closed the door as he went in. His pair of green eyes with brown flecks searched for the other gentleman.
“I’m here, Justin."
Justin placed a hand on his chest and heaved out a sigh of relief. Facing his boss was like facing God in its physical form. His life was solely devoted to serve his boss until the end. The deep sigh he produced was the impact of his self-imagination that he was approaching his almighty leader in his own dark authentic appearance. In his own mind, he was showing his dark aura - but technically, there was no such thing behind the young boy's back.
“Boss, I heard your scream outside. You sound angry about something. Is there something bothering you? Maybe I could offer the service that someone in my caliber can do?” he asked, then immediately moved closer to his boss and scanned his body from head to toe.
“I’m alright, Justin. Don’t worry about me.” Hermes irritably pushed him away. The butler instantly made a step back and kneeled in front of him. Hermes was astonished but kept his facade.
Justin, relieved, let out a sigh once again, and murmured. “I’m glad, you’re alright. There are no signs of a deadly curse in your body.”
“Hey Justin, get up,” he asked, waving a hand which Justin took, with the wrong idea that his boss was asking for his hand to be held. ”Just don’t even try to examine my body. Wai-”
“But boss," Justin held his right hand and kissed it while maintaining his position. "... as the butler of the Archnemesis family, I must ensure your safety and health. If you get cursed, I must dismantle it. If you get severely injured, I must heal you immediately. If you get hurt, I must find the person responsible and torture him to death.” Hermes just gave in and tried to compose himself even if he was a little bit embarrassed by his butler’s caring nature. He didn’t realize there was a character like him existed in this game. He then tapped his butler's right shoulder twice, showing a deep sense of satisfaction at his service.
“Boss,” his eyes sparkled as he looked at him directly. Justin lowered his head and took his boss’ hand off his shoulder. “Oh Don Hermes, you’re the last heir of the Archnemesis family. I won’t let any harm to put you in danger. I will suppress the enemies and won't let anyone escape again... alive.”
“Lift up your head and … and.. you’re a good man but don’t do that again".
Justin was confused by his master’s words that he mistakenly thought his words 'don't do that again' meant his works of suppressing his enemies and unable to catch the survivors didn't please his boss during the last raid.
“But Boss, this is how I must act. The only person you most trust. The only servant who let himself stay with you for such a long time and stayed behind until the end. Although my salary is low, I won’t even leave you behind like the other servants.”
The butler’s last words caught Hermes’ attention.
“W-what are you talking about? The only servant... I have?” he asked, looked curious.
“Aah, regarding that... " Justin saw the time in the clock. "Boss, it's almost time for breakfast. Let me help you dress up... "
"No need," said the young boy who took a step back after immediately standing up from his seat, his arms embracing his upper body which made the butler baffled.
Every morning, he was always assisting his boss to dress up because his boss didn't know how to do it. But now, he was looking at the face of someone who didn't like to be touched by him, he felt sad. Sad because he became someone who knows how to dress on his own. Sad because he won't be able to touch his boss' frail body.
"Boss, are you sure you don't need my help?"
Hermes nodded twice, his lips pursed.
"Boss, you don't want me to dress you up?" His eyes were burning in despair but the young boy didn't feel pity.
"No, I can handle myself."
"I, I, I will leave right now.” With a heavy heart, Justin stood up, turned around and grabbed the doorknob, ready to make his exit of the room.
“Hmm... Where are you going then?”
His servant turned his head half-sided, surprised from his question.
Stolen story; please report.
“Boss, you’re so funny. Of course, in the kitchen. I will be going and prepare your breakfast.” He bowed down before gently closing the door behind him.
After the butler left , Hermes went back to his own predicament: How the fuck did he end up inside this character’s body and how the fuck did he get transferred in this world by that self-proclaimed God. Hermes tried to recollect the basic information of the whole game.
The RPG game [[Mafioso]] was an action-fantasy game set in the late 19th-century era of mafia world. Italia was the name of the country as the primary setting of the story. There were several unknown families who were fighting for territories around the place. This nation was not yet unified and still in chaos every day. Intentionally, the game developers’ purpose of creating the game was to produce an otome game which the players will choose sides and unify the whole nation. Thus, they deliberately decided to make it bloody and organized like the original mafia system in the real world. They also update often to increase the territorial dispute of the new bosses. Due to the increase of popularity of the game, the developers added a lot of rankings in the system. To make the game more exciting, they created a plot to make it more RPG-like : A reversed otome game where the protagonist was a girl and taking all the territories from the rival bosses especially Hermes who was ultimately one of the last bosses who will fight her and destined to die by public execution made by her harem boys.
Aljen who was currently inside the character Hermes’ body, started to get chills down his spine when he pictured his character’s tragic death. He couldn’t imagine the devastation and destruction of his own territory. Before would happen, he should come up with a plan to prevent his impending death in the upcoming Second Holy Mafia War.
How could I even prevent that? He asked to himself. He walked around his room, whilst, thinking for his own salvation. He never stops saying “What should I do?” and “How should I possibly handle this one?”
He knew Hermes Archnemesis was one of the bosses who would die and whose territory would be annexed by one of the Bosses, the great Arata Kingsman. One of the former opponents and rivals in Scily, is the Verdugo Crime Family. They held the eastern side of the island and one of the strongest families who could match the Corleon and other mafia organization. Aljen couldn’t recall the name of the character who leads the family. It was almost ten years since the game successfully ended in his world. Right now, he was thinking if Hermes Archnemesis had some good members in his family to talk to, because he had no knowledge about the current updates of his character nor any idea of how things work in this world. He needs to prepare for the upcoming crisis and his survival rate needs to be settled immediately. “I need to know the information regarding the current situation, geographic data and the newest update about this world. I need to know all of them. Should I ask for Justin’s help?.” he muttered to himself, and sat in his bed, lotus position.
Frustrated, Hermes lied down and stared at his hands. He was not merely the player, he was also the character.
After a long pause, he decided, "I should go outside to unwind. There's nothing I can do right now though."
Exploring the place like a tourist, his eyes wandered and glowed in amazement as he examined the elegance and delicacy of the hall in his mansion. As he walked deeper into the mansion, he saw casta paintings and portraits to large-scale religious altarpieces hanging by the walls. Once he reached the stairway, his glistening eyes followed the high ceilings painted with several beautiful angels dancing in circle of the alluring Greek half-naked woman, leaving him totally in awe.
He never imagined how beautiful and magnificent the whole place was. It was different from the original illustration of the game back then. Impressed by his character's hobby, he started to like this man. The only thing Hermes read from the developers' details, this character was a die hard archeologist who loved collecting rare and ancient artifacts such as tools used by Neanderthals, claypots with cuneiform writing, footprints of ancient creatures, bones, and fossils
The boss’ curious and intuitive personality was reflected by the appearance of his mansion. However, there was a slight problem. As he strolled the hallways, he had never seen nor met anyone inside the mansion besides Justin.
“That’s unusual." Hermes looked around. "Something feels off."
As an heir of an influential family, his mansion must be full of his servants to maintain the tidiness of the place; and security personnel to keep his own safety. Where is everyone anyway?
He recalled that the Archnemesis Family was known for its evil management of its territory. They had been known for criminal acts such as human trafficking, a protection racket and illegal possession of firearms imported from the other countries. They had records of countless assassinations of innocent lives.
In the game setting, five years ago, the 8th Godfather Don Resure Corleon had discovered their action and declared the mafia war against the family, sending thousands of his troops to fight the family, however, the assaulters had failed their mission as the family had hired a lot more of mercenaries to defend their turf. Due to consecutive defeat, the humiliation suffered by the Don in the public forced him to reconcile with the family and promised to never interfere with their business.
Hermes had been curious where the other family members could be right now. As the youngest among the three brothers in the family, his parents and elder siblings must be around somewhere.
Maybe, I'll find them later.
~~~Growl~~~
“Where is the kitchen anyway? Man, I'm starving. The Dining hall and other rooms must be on the other side. Shit man, this mansion is huge.” Suddenly, a savory aroma crossed to his nose. His stomach started to growl much louder. He followed the smell like a dog sniffing to find its favorite bone. He realized the aroma was coming through the left side.
“How come there are no people around this mansion? Maybe I should ask Justin when I meet him again,” he said, continuing his steps towards the place.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the kitchen door. The wonderful and unique features amazed him so much. The huge door had two flowery paint around the corner and a symbol of the Archnemesis family in the middle. He then opened it with his two hands; a big round table appeared in front of him as he entered.
Is this really the kitchen? So.... so huge! But the smell, the smell is very strong here.
“Oh boss, you’re here,” Justin arrived, holding a tray covered with a round cover. “It is amazing that you come here without calling me. I was planning to get you from your room. But you really come by yourself."
"Enough of that. Where's my sit?" Hermes wanted to say the opposite in a polite way. He wanted to reply, "No need to worry. Where should I sit then?" But his mouth said something he unexpectedly spouted out.
When his butler heard his response, he smiled. "Here, my beloved boss,” he put down the tray in the table and slowly pull away from the chair, offering to be honorably seated by his boss.
“Boss.. ?”
“Ah sorry, my bad. I apologize I was thinking about something that I almost lost my focus.” Justin suddenly stopped and looked surprised. Hermes sat down in the chair he offered while gently waiting for him to reach its end.
Justin knew his boss won't apologize even to a simple matter. That was the first time he heard about those words, making him a little bit unpleased.
“Boss, are you really alright?” Justin asked.
“Uh, not really but somehow I felt uneasy today. Don’t worry so much, Justin,” he replied, smiling at him. Justin covered his mouth and a shed of tears dropped to his eyes.
“Boss, are you really okay? What just happen during New Year's’ Eve? Have you reconcile your own sin and now decided to change yourself. Oh my gosh, I never thought it could happen. What could be the main reason for your sudden change? Where is my evil and cunt boss?”
“Stop it, will ya. What kind of person do you think I am, Justin?”
“A timid and weak boss who will use his money to annihilate his enemies. A cunt leader who will let his hired men do his dirty job and let his servants taste his shoes with their tongue whenever they commit a mistake,” he smiled, opening the cover of the tray. A special marinade turkey appeared in front of Hermes’ eyes.
“Oh... really? What a splendid and precise description of me,” he irritably responded. "Well, whatever."
Justin nodded. "Precisely, that's what you are."